Kirk Nieuwenhuis Has a Lot To Prove For New York Mets

The New York Mets are a team in transition right now. There are superstars like David Wright and Ike Davis on the roster along with a lot of young talent trying to blend in. If the Mets are going to take the next step in 2013 however, it is going to be up to Kirk Nieuwenhuis to be one of those young players to pick up his game. Nieuwenhuis though is having an awful spring training and that isn’t going to help the Mets out any.

Nieuwenhuis is just 1-for-18 with seven strikeouts in spring training for a .056 average. The Mets need Nieuwenhuis to be their center fielder for the future so this season is going to be a very important one for him. The 2012 season saw Nieuwenhuis hit .252 with seven home runs and 28 RBI in 91 games. Those numbers must improve this coming season and he can’t afford to get sent back to Triple-A if he ever wants to be the next Mookie Wilson for the Mets. That would obviously be a very tough task to pull off, but this is where the other members of the Mets need to get on Nieuwenhuis’ case as one of the top prospects to do something.

There is already enough media pressure being in New York as it is so Nieuwenhuis needs to start hitting better in the final weeks of spring training and be ready to bring that north with the team. The Mets are going to have a very different decision to make if that doesn’t happen though. It could turn into more of a trying to trade Nieuwenhuis instead of trusting him and that won’t be pretty.

Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.